Christmas Letter: “TAKE OFF THE GARMENT OF YOUR SORROW!”

Christmas Letter 2011 (pdf) / Christmas Greetings (Video) – by the Minister General
Dear Brothers, It’s Christmas! The feast of the God-with-us, Emmanuel. It’s Christmas! The celebration of the Word made flesh, of the Son of God who, without ceasing to be so, became our brother (cf. 2Cel 198). It’s Christmas! The proclamation of peace, “Glory to God on earth and peace to those whom God loves” (Lk 2, 14). Christ “is our peace!” (Eph 2, 14). It’s Christmas! Good News for humanity. The Impassible One feels drawn by an immense passionate love. Yes! Christmas reveals to us the passionate nature of the Incarnation; it reveals the passion of God for man. Christmas is the beginning of the marriage between God and humanity and the beginning of a love stronger than death (cf. Song of Songs 8, 6). And if it is true that there is “greater joy in giving than in receiving” (Acts 20, 35), then Christmas is not just the feast of the joy of man because he feels loved, but also the feast of the joy of God because He loves. Christmas is the birth of God on earth and the birth of man in heaven.